This invention relates to dispensing containers and more particularly to containers for storing and selectably dispensing softened butter or similar dispensible material from pre-packaged envelopes.
It is to be understood that the term "dispensible materials" is to include all materials that may be dispensed in the instant invention.
Butter and oleomargarine are commonly distributed for home use in one-pound quantities cut into one-quarter pound segments. For purposes of clarity, only butter will hereafter be referred to in the following specification. Since quarter-pound quantities are most commonly used in households, the instant application will relate to these quarter-pound segments.
Many people prefer that butter be at room temperature consistency before spreading it on bread or use it for cooking purposes. The most common means to store butter is in elongated butter dishes with removable covers. The butter is allowed to soften at room temperature and is easily spread thereafter.
Although the softening of butter before use renders it more suitable for spreading on bread without damaging the bread, certain undesirable effects occur.
For example, when bread is toasted and soft butter is spread with a spatula, crumbs from the toast being buttered, adhere to the spatula. During repeated use, these crumbs are transferred to the soft butter supply. This condition occurs regardless of the care exercised by the user. The result is a soft butter supply that is polluted with residue toast crumbs making it unsightly and unappetizing. In many cases the remaining butter supply is discarded or the polluted area removed. In any case, wasted butter is the end result.
Furthermore, when the butter supply in the butter dish is exhausted, the butter residue remaining in the dish is messy and the dish must be cleaned before reusing.
Moreover, if a butter supply is allowed to stand in the butter dish for an extended period of time, it becomes contaminated with environmental odors resulting in an unpleasant tasting butter which is usually discarded as waste.
The instant invention overcomes these undesirable features by eliminating the exposed butter supply by providing a re-fillable dispensing container that dispenses butter from butter segments pre-packaged in plastic envelopes.